[X] My Assistant

[hermit]

That's your chance!

[KarmaInferno]

Point being: Americans would name military equipment like that. It's totally bonkers from a German perspective.

Americans tend not to think in anything but American perspectives.

When you grow up constantly being told you're the most powerful important people on the planet, whether or not it's true, you tend to be that way.





-k

[Adarael]

Can someone explain why Vogelhund sounds so stupid if you're German? It looks, from my perspective, like it means "bird-dog", and that doesn't seem too off. So I must be missing something.

[Stahlseele]

Then please tell me why bird-dog does NOT sound dumb in english/american . .

[hermit]

When you grow up constantly being told you're the most powerful important people on the planet, whether or not it's true, you tend to be that way.

Seems like. Yeah, probably we should focus on other, far worse things about War!, like David Hill's nascent Nazism (no he did not mean villagers, it's painfully obvious), aaron's craptacular rules, or Michael Wich's lack of understanding how maps work (are we to assume the only acceptable part of War! is Filamena Young's?).

[Warlordtheft]

Where is there no company named Evil Inc. yet?

It is a Horizon Subsidary, specializing in PR for despots.

[KarmaInferno]

Then please tell me why bird-dog does NOT sound dumb in english/american . .

Because a bird dog is a description of a dog used to retrieve downed birds when bird hunting.

Typically game birds, it's too much trouble to go and scamper all over the fields yourself trying to find the bird you just shot, so you train a dog to do it.





-k

[Stahlseele]

It is a Horizon Subsidary, specializing in PR for despots.

I had thought about evo. but make it evil inc. and have it only do good.

[Stahlseele]

Because a bird dog is a description of a dog used to retrieve downed birds when bird hunting.

Typically game birds, it's too much trouble to go and scamper all over the fields trying to find the bird you just shot yourself, so you train a dog to do it.





-k

But why does it not SOUND dumb to you people?
Also, do you have Rabbit-Dogs that go after rabbits too?

[Kagetenshi]

You spend about 20 minutes doing company name searches on google, and you can get some really amusing names for big corporations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharm...l_companies#E-J

Stupid names are really par for the course.

Right, but fiction is held to a higher standard—being realistic doesn't suffice, it needs verisimilitude. Just because a real-life corporation gets away with calling itself "Verizon" doesn't mean you can name a fictional corporation that and expect people to take you seriously.

Americans tend not to think in anything but American perspectives.

When you grow up constantly being told you're the most powerful important people on the planet, whether or not it's true, you tend to be that way.

I'd say it's probably a mixture of things—in addition to what you mention, there's the fact that the US does dominate in a number of ways, and then on top you can mix in the fact that the majority of the population lives over 400 kilometers away from the next nearest country's soil. Builds a mighty strong habit.

~J

[KarmaInferno]

But why does it not SOUND dumb to you people?

Eh. English speakers have a habit of shoving any old words together to make a new combined meaning. Americans especially.

Also, do you have Rabbit-Dogs that go after rabbits too?

No, because rabbits have a tendency to fall down right where they've been shot, and not go careening into the brush and trees where you can spend sometimes hours locating the damn thing.

But if it WAS common practice, I'm sure it WOULD be called a "rabbit dog" or similar.



-k

[Doc Chase]

We do name them 'Retrievers' as well.

[hermit]

I'd say it's probably a mixture of things—in addition to what you mention, there's the fact that the US does dominate in a number of ways, and then on top you can mix in the fact that the majority of the population lives over 400 kilometers away from the next nearest country's soil. Builds a mighty strong habit.

And you're surrounded by countries almost like you on top of that (Canada being a slightly more European version of the US, and Mexico being an unlucky, spanish-speaking version of the US where everything that went well for the US went badly).

No, because rabbits have a tendency to fall down right where they've been shot, and not go careening into the brush and trees where you can spend sometimes hours locating the damn thing.

Always thought that's what a blood hound is for.

[Muspellsheimr]

Retriever is usually used to refer to a type of dog bred for that - the Golden Retriever. While correct, it is not often used for dogs in general who fetch game.

One of the primary reasons dogs are used for this is not finding the game, but getting the duck out of the water after you shoot it. A Bird Dog is also called a Gun Dog or Gundog.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

Where is there no company named Evil Inc. yet?

Just so you know, Rich Burlew already had this idea.

[Ascalaphus]

c-c-c-combo breaker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrnHY2KcEwM
i'll never ever respect that name again i am afraid.

That's terrible.

Regarding the Vogelhund: why do people get so upset about it? It's a bird-hunting related name for a vehicle used in AA activities. Seems reasonable to me.

[Doc Byte]

You spend about 20 minutes doing company name searches on google, and you can get some really amusing names for big corporations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharm...l_companies#E-J

Stupid names are really par for the course.

Btw, what's the "Catalyst" in "Catalyst Game Labs" supposed to tell us? Is there any deeper meaning I've missed?

[Kid Chameleon]

Btw, what's the "Catalyst" in "Catalyst Game Labs" supposed to tell us? Is there any deeper meaning I've missed?

A catalyst is an agent of change.

[Kid Chameleon]

Always thought that's what a blood hound is for.

A bloodhound is a tracking dog, not a retriever.

There are Fox Hounds for hunting fox but the Germans seem to have schweinhunds where we don't have pig dogs. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Whipstitch]

But why does it not SOUND dumb to you people?
Also, do you have Rabbit-Dogs that go after rabbits too?

No, but we have animals colloquially called sheep or cattle dogs. The trick is not giving a shit followed by reveling in the convenience. I mean, really, there's no such thing as a dog that is also a sheep, so it'd be dumb to infer that the phrase sheep dog means some theoretical dog-sheep hybrid. This assumption means that we can just go ahead and say sheep dog instead of cramming together every linking word until you end up with dogthatherdssheep like some other languages do.

This post has been edited by Whipstitch: Jan 6 2011, 08:12 PM

[CanRay]

So, what new and freaky name will Richard Villers come out with next for his Mega after he has to reform it. In a cave. With a box of scraps!

[hermit]

Word of Dick, inc.

[sabs]

Triathlon Shipping?

[Stahlseele]

So, what new and freaky name will Richard Villers come out with next for his Mega after he has to reform it. In a cave. With a box of scraps!

None, he will come out, kill some people with it, rebuild it in a better, sleeker version of it's former self, have some fun with it and people will give it a name.

[Adarael]

Here's a lot of why "bird-dog" doesn't sound strange to me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-1_Bird_Dog - and was the callsign for Danny Glover's character in BAT21, since he was flying the plane in question.

It just doesn't sound like a strange compound in english, since foxhound & bird dog - and even by extension foxbat, which I suppose is a nickname for fruit bats - are real things, and such are also real-world NATO code names for various aircraft. Of course "Fishbed" is one that DOES sound odd, and was used for the MiG-21, because it's like, "What is a fishbed, anyway?" It's probably based in the fact that English doesn't use linking words to form compounds.

Some other odd names we've used that don't seem to mean anything or refer to real things include "thunderchief" (WTF is a 'thunder chief'?), seabee (there are bees that live in the ocean?), and the X-20 Dyna-Soar, which is just a terrible way to make a play on "dinosaur", which everyone knows is awesome.